Vilification in Fox's "24" Shara M
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University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 2010 Vilification in Fox's "24" Shara M. Drew University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses Part of the Broadcast and Video Studies Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Mass Communication Commons, and the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons Drew, Shara M., "Vilification in Fox's "24"" (2010). Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014. 493. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/493 This thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. VILIFICATION IN FOX’S 24 A Thesis Presented by SHARA M. DREW Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS September 2010 University of Massachusetts Department of Communication © Copyright by Shara M. Drew 2010 All Rights Reserved VILIFICATION IN FOX’S 24 A Thesis Presented by SHARA M. DREW Approved as to style and content by: _______________________________________ Stephen Olbrys Gencarella, Chair _______________________________________ Leda Cooks, Member _______________________________________ Martin Norden, Member _______________________________________ Erica Scharrer, Member ____________________________________ Jarice Hanson, Acting Chair, Department of Communication DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my little sisters and brothers Nikki, Terese, John, Jenny, T.J., Jayden and Kasey—all of whom will make their unique marks on the world—and to my fiery and spirited nieces, Salome, Izabella and Gizelle. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the many people upon whom the fruition of this thesis relied. First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor and thesis committee chair, Stephen Gencarella, for the commitment and care he has shown to this thesis and to my work over the years. Stephen’s feedback throughout the various iterations of the project has been nothing short of invaluable. I am deeply grateful for his continued guidance and friendship. I would like to thank my thesis committee members Leda Cooks, Marty Norden, and Erica Scharrer for their support during the writing process. I also express my sincere gratitude to the staff of the Communication Department, especially April, Deb, Kathy, and Sue, for all of their assistance throughout my academic career. I am indebted to my family and friends, who, as I worked my way sentence by sentence through this thesis, had only words of encouragement. I would especially like to thank the Hydes for their love and support during this project and always. I also thank the Drews for cheering me on all the way to the finish line—especially Chris, who worked his editorial magic on this manuscript. I am happy to finally give an affirmative answer to my father, who has started nearly every conversation in recent memory with the question “Have you finished your thesis?” I would like to thank my grandparents, Nancy and Richard Dunn and Diane and Guy Vicari, whose pride in me inspires me to push beyond limits (and also makes me blush). Thanks to all of the educators along the way who ignited intellectual and creative sparks that still fly, especially Jim Hutchison, Bob Bouchal, and Sut Jhally. Thanks, too, v to the UMass undergraduates I have had the pleasure of teaching, whose analyses of 24 planted the seed for this thesis. The countless hours I spent watching 24 would not have been endurable without the soft and sweet company of my dogs, Diego and Sadie. Since they cannot read, I shall thank them with a biscuit. Finally, I thank my husband Neal for his patience, enthusiasm, and love, which were my lifeblood during this thesis process and continue to be today and always. vi ABSTRACT VILIFICATION IN FOX’S 24 SEPTEMBER 1, 2010 SHARA M. DREW, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Stephen Olbrys Gencarella This paper explores vilification in the popular counterterrorism show, Fox’s 24. A critical, in-depth analysis of three prominent antagonists from the show illustrates the different ways in which they are vilified. Each of the three characters is examined to understand which type of villain he or she embodies in 24, which of the show’s moral codes the villain affronts, and how he or she is punished or treated as a result. The analysis considers the broadcast of the show’s first six seasons in relation to neoconservative and Christian Right values that characterized the George W. Bush administration after 9/11. It finds that the show’s characterizations of all three villains— an Islamic extremist, a femme fatale, and a shirking bureaucrat—reinforce dominant xenophobic, patriarchal, and hypermasculine values, which underscored the Bush administration’s war on terror. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................v ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................vii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................1 1. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................9 The Villain as a Social Symbol ............................................................................9 Media Villains ...................................................................................................23 Villains in 24 ..................................................................................................... 33 2. METHODS ............................................................................................................... 42 3. HABIB MARWAN: THE MONSTER ...................................................................... 49 Villain Type.......................................................................................................50 Moral Codes ...................................................................................................... 60 Punishment........................................................................................................70 Chapter Conclusion............................................................................................ 76 4. NINA MYERS: THE FEMME FATALE ..................................................................80 Villain Type.......................................................................................................81 Moral Codes ...................................................................................................... 88 Punishment........................................................................................................95 Chapter Conclusion.......................................................................................... 103 5. CHARLES LOGAN: THE “NOT GEORGE W. BUSH”......................................... 107 Villain Type..................................................................................................... 108 Moral Codes .................................................................................................... 118 Punishment? .................................................................................................... 126 Chapter Conclusion.......................................................................................... 132 6. CONCLUSION....................................................................................................... 137 REFERENCE LIST..................................................................................................... 154 viii INTRODUCTION The present study considers the dramatic series 24 (2001-2010) as a cultural text that works to influence viewers to understand who we are—and who we are not—by examining the cultural symbol of the villain in the show. Narratives about villains (the “bad guys”) and heroes (the “good guys”) are typically regarded as fantastical constructions. But the constructs “hero” and “villain” are not confined to the domain of fiction. These expressions, along with related ideas about the nature of good and evil, organize social morals, values and actions (Ingebretsen, 2001). Following the September 11 attacks, for example, the official rhetoric from the Bush administration focused on good versus evil. “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists,” was the message Bush delivered to a joint session of Congress on September 20, 2001 (Kelly, 2007). This narrative helped to unify Americans as freedom fighters and positioned Iraq and Afghanistan—and for some, perhaps the entire Muslim world—as the villain in the American imagination (Giroux, 2004). The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were sanctioned in part (in good part, many would argue) by most Americans’ understanding of the wars as their country’s heroic fight against an evil villain (Anker, 2006). While they may be rooted in fantasy, constructs of heroism and villainy often have consequential effects in the real world. This is not to claim that “real world” rhetoric of good and evil is more important than